Originally named the Autoroute du Vallon for the 17th century road it replaced,[3] in 2006, the Quebec government under then-PremierJean Charest renamed the highway Autoroute Robert-Bourassa, in honour of a long serving former Quebec Premier.
Route description
The A-740 begins at an intersection with Route 175 (Also called Boulevard Laurier) in suburban Quebec City, tracing the western limits of Université Laval along the northbound lanes and Place Sainte-Foy (a regional shopping mall) along the southbound lanes. Once past the university, the A-740 enters a 300 m tunnel, passing under heavily travelled chemin Sainte-Foy and chemin Quatre-Bourgeois. Passing to the west of Cégep de Sainte-Foy, the A-740 approaches the interchange with the A-440 at exit 4. From here, motorists on the A-440 can travel east (which becomes Boulevard Charest) towards the city centre or west to an interchange with the A-40 and A-73, affording access to Jean Lesage International Airport and points south and west.
Continuing north, the A-440 passes to the west of an industrial park, meets Route 138 at exit 7, then crosses the Saint-Charles River to an interchange with Boulevard Père-Lelièvre at exit 8 on the north shore. The autoroute provides the eastern boundary for a municipal park before meeting the A-40/A-73 (a concurrent route) at a cloverleaf interchange. The A-740 ends shortly after the A-40/A-73 interchange, passing to the west of the Galeries de la Capitale (another regional shopping mall) to an intersection with Boulevard Lebourgneuf.
The original plans called for the A-740 to continue northward after the first section opened in 1982, and so the government preserved the autoroute's intended path. Instead, in 2006, an urban boulevard (Boulevard Robert-Bourassa) was opened on this right of way, running for 4.5 km (2.8 mi) from the northern terminus of the A-740 to Route 369 (Boulevard Bastien).[4] This new route was intended to provide an alternative to the heavily travelled Boulevard St. Jacques (which it parallels).
